Eagles, Mornhinweg like depth behind RB McCoy

July 30, 2012|Reuters

The Sports Xchange

Eagles, Mornhinweg like depth behind RB McCoy

The Eagles are committed to lightening the workload running back LeSean McCoy takes on this season. To do that, offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and coach Andy Reid must identify a steady backup who they can trust on all downs. They'll also have to convince McCoy to accept a breather from time to time.

"With our running back position, I think that (general manager) Howie Roseman and our personnel department have done an outstanding job," Mornhinweg said. "All of our running backs have a chance to play in this league. Chris Polk from the University of Washington, (Jeremy) Stewart from Stanford. There are some excellent players here. We have a pretty good crew there of runners. Some of them have very little experience, so that's why we put in the hard work on the field to get them experience and they'll certainly get some in the preseason."

The newly minted McCoy -- he signed a five-year, $45.6 million contract in May -- led the NFL in rushing touchdowns (17) last season. He had 273 rushes for 1,309 yards and 48 receptions for 315 yards, more carries than an Eagles' back has had since Brian Westbrook carried 278 times in 2007. Westbrook also had 90 receptions that season.

Three-hundred touches isn't a stated threshold for the Eagles, but they'd prefer to spread the carries around and might have the depth chart to do it without sacrificing big-play potential.

Dion Lewis, a fifth-round pick in 2011, is listed as the top backup. Behind McCoy and Michael Vick, he's the team's top returning rusher with 23 carries for 102 yards but caught just one pass.

"He's had an excellent camp so far," Mornhinweg said. "There is a lot of hard work in front of all of us. He has had an excellent camp up-to-date and he's a fine runner. He's excellent with his protections. He's a little shorter than one would think, but he's certainly bigger because he's a very strong and physical man. He's doing a nice job in the pass game as well."

Lewis is feeling a bit of heat these days with seventh-round pick Bryce Brown -- once a five-star recruit at Tennessee who transferred to Kansas State but didn't cut it there -- and undrafted free agent Polk on the roster. Lewis was also cited in an off-field incident for pulling a fire alarm at a hotel after being locked out in the early morning hours. Since getting to camp, he's been nothing but positive.

Mornhinweg has said of multiple backups in the past that he should've been more mindful of getting his No. 2 back more game snaps.

"That's probably my mistake," he said. "I always wanted to go into a game and use him just a little bit more. Then, you get into a game and every game is important. LeSean (McCoy) was so good last year and it was hard to take him out, and it will still be hard to take LeSean out. We would certainly like to play the other fellas just a little bit more. Dion has earned that role up-to-date, and he still has a bit of hard work left."

For McCoy's part, he said last week he wants to be more involved in the passing game and not come out of the game as often.

"I want to be a bigger factor," he said.

Whether his backups will prevent that is to be determined. Reid will have some input, as will Mornhinweg, and McCoy can make it a tough decision. At the same time, Lewis, Brown and Polk can make a statement of their own in August if they pick up the offense quickly.

"Every individual is a little bit different," Mornhinweg said. "Some of them pick it up very quickly and can help you. LeSean McCoy picked it up very quickly. With others, it might take some time and may take more than a year. They may all end up being good players but it depends on the progression there."